Alongside the new iPhones and new iPads, Apple also announced the Apple Watch Series 7 at its September event. Unlike those other products, the company did not announce the pre-order or release dates for the new Watch 7 — until today. Apple has finally announced teh pre-order date for the Apple Watch Series 7, and it’ll be going live this Friday, with shipments a week later.
The Apple Watch Series 7 will be available for pre-order starting at at 5. a.m. PT/8. a.m. ET on Friday, October 8, and you’ll be able to shop for one in stores starting Friday, October 15, if you’re more of a tactile buyer. While the iPhone 13 series and iPad Mini 6 have already reached customers, issues with the supply chain delayed the Watch 7’s release slightly.
The Apple Watch Series 7 comes with a softer design than the Series 6, with rounder and curvier corners. The screen is also 20% larger, with a thinner bezel, allowing Apple to fit more screen real estate into a similar-size body. This display also lets the company add a QWERTY keyboard to the Apple Watch for the first time, though some have ethical concerns about Apple’s behavior on that front. The durability has been improved, with Apple noting the crystal that covers the display is 50% thicker than the previous model.
Other than those hardware changes, the new Apple Watch Series 7 comes with specially designed Watch faces called Contour and Modular Duo. You’ll be able to buy it in midnight, starlight, green, and new blue and Product Red finishes, and either 41mm or 45mm sizes. It’s also IP6X rated for dust resistance and has a WR50 water-resistance rating.
We’ve tried out the new iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 Pro and have been suitably impressed. If the Apple Wach Series 7 is as good in its implementation, then Apple Watch owners wanting to upgrade from older watches should have something to look forward to.
The OnePlus Buds Clip are a new pair of open-ear earbuds built around a simple convenience. They join Sony’s LinkBuds Clip in the growing ear-cuff category, but either OnePlus bud can go on either ear.
Sensors recognize how the earbuds are being worn and route the audio channels accordingly. There’s no label to check before putting them on, and the feature also works when only one bud is used.
We buy fitness bands and activity trackers to keep tabs on our exercise, but it is easy to forget to start tracking or switch modes when moving between different activities. For Fitbit and Pixel Watch users, that could soon become a lot less annoying, as Google is rolling out a major upgrade to automatic activity tracking that can recognize more than 100 types of exercise, up from just 10 before.
Google first showed off the improved tracking earlier this month alongside the Fitbit Edge. It is now coming to Fitbit Air and the Pixel Watch 3, 4, and 5, and Google claims the added context behind the system makes workout detection nearly twice as accurate while cutting missed activities by more than half. Fitbit Edge will support it too.